Fort St. John hunter fined $5,000 for killing northern mountain caribou

A hunter based out of Fort St. John, Adam Ward-Pattison, has been penalized for killing the at-risk northern mountain cow caribou species in the Pink Mountain area.

By Steven Berard  Fort NelsonFort St. JohnNewsPeace Region  May 9, 2025  2 minutes of reading

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A hunter based out of Fort St. John has been penalized for killing an at-risk species of caribou. (Pixabay)

The article below includes an image of a dead animal. Reader discretion is advised.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A local man has been fined thousands of dollars and banned from hunting in B.C. for three years for killing an at-risk species.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Environment and Parks, the incident occurred in October 2022 in the Pink Mountain area, when the man killed an animal he misidentified as a white-tailed buck.

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Once he began to harvest the animal, he realized he had actually killed a northern mountain cow caribou, a species on the province’s blue list that tracks animals at risk of endangerment.

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Upon discovering the animal’s actual species, the man self-reported the incident to the Conservation Officer Service (COS). The COS retrieved the animal’s body and donated it to a local First Nation.

Adam Ward-Pattison plead guilty to killing wildlife not with an open season, a violation of the Wildlife Act.

He has been fined $5,015, the majority of which will go to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, and is prohibited from hunting or accompanying hunters anywhere in the province for three years. 

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An unedited image of the deceased caribou is included here:

The northern mountain caribou hunted and killed in the Pink Mountain area. (Ministry of Environment and Parks)

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